Abigail H. Natenshon

About the author: Abigail H. Natenshon—psychotherapist, author, and speaker—is the author of When Your Child Has an Eating Disorder: A Step-by-Step Workbook for Parents and Other Caregivers. Her website www. empoweredparents.com offers practical help in helping victims of eating disorders.

Parents often witness the deteriorating condition of a child who has developed an eating disorder, but their lack of awareness of the gravity of the disease often prevents them from acting in time to remedy the illness. Parents can help their children most by gently confronting them, helping them seek the most effective professional help, and cooperating with professionals as a responsible member of the treatment team.

Ninety percent of eating disordered victims are adolescents living at home with parents and families...